January 20, 2003
Nukes galor
Andrew sent me a cool link to information on nuclear weapons testing and issues. The cool part was that it had a bunch of links and pictures. This one is my favorite i think. The pictures got me thinking about how big of a chapter the tests are in nevada's history, and what a sad chapter that is. This is clearly indicated here, it shows thyroid cancer rates in the US (just to point at the obvious, the test site is just north of Las Vegas, right where all the red starts).
The connection is that the picture is from Operation Upshot-Knothole, and so is the map. The most interesting quote was:
"The effect on the downwind civilian population, taken together, was much worse. Upshot-Knothole released some 35,000 kilocuries of radioiodine (I-131) into the atmosphere (for comparison, Trinity released about 3200 kilocuries of radioiodine). This produced total civilian radiation exposures amounting to 89 million person-rads of thyroid tissue exposure (about 24% of all exposure due to continental nuclear tests). This can be expected to eventually cause about 28,000 cases of thyroid cancer, leading to some 1400 deaths."
And just in case you missed it, Operation Upshot-Knothole was a series of "underground tests".
All of this aside, i still think it would be cool to have a liscense plate with a mushroom cloud on it, i guess my principles aren't worth much.
January 19, 2003
Are you ready for some football
As unbelievable as it may be, i played football with some of the guys yesterday down at mcqueen, and what is even more unbelievable is that i caught two passes (one for a touchdown) and an interception. This seemed super impresive until i realized that while all the guys playing were incredible athletes in their prime, they aren't in their prime anymore. The other recreational activities they are involved in aren't helping them any (take a guess who i might have played football with and you will know what i am talking about).
Also pete leaves this morning, which sucks. I was just beginning to remember how to convince him to do really stupid stuff (he said he would scan the pictures from sledding, then you will know what i mean here too).
Also, i will put some pictures up soon, i just need to get them from some unnamed people, cought petar, cough mary (i wish i knew a paul, ah, i kill me, thanks, i will be here all week).